Thursday, February 28, 2013

I am opening my studio with other artists for First Saturday Open Studios....check out www.firstsaturday.ca for the list of artists participating this month. I will show my six Ceremonial Blankets which I made and showed in Amsterdam last Oct on my sabbatical. My hours are noon to 5pm on March 2.

wool, buttons

wool, felt

I also wanted to share with you a bit of history. I went with my husband Arnt on my first day of urban logging. He cuts fir, cherry, birch, chestnut, alder or oak logs that have either blown down or been cut down by the city and has been doing this for over 20 years. He then dries them for one and half years before they can be used. Check out the amazing furniture he creates from these slabs of wood. www.arntarntzen.com The other day he found a birch log and I went along to help.

making the plan of best way to cut the 8 foot log

Arnt's invention on how to use the alaska mill saw on your own

9 beautiful planks which will become furniture

When I first met Arnt we were both treeplanters. I planted for 5 years and Arnt for 6 years and between us we planted 1,500,000 trees.

My friend Doug Cowell (freelance photographer who specializes in forestry and treeplanting) took this photo of me in 1987, the year of my final contract in Fernie, BC.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

As Arnt was telling someone "it is in his contract to go surfing a couple times of a year". So we went back to Zihuatanejo to the surf camp just north. You leave Vancouver at 6 am and arrive for sunset.

2012 we stayed here

2013 we stayed here

we are on the second floor

entrance to our casa

kitchen

our bedroom

we leave these doors open at night to hear the surf

there are 2 single beds on the porch for siestas

the second bedroom

this is our scrabble, surf watching, sunset cocktail space

dining al fresco

Our lovely landlady Esmeralda invited us to her house for lobster lunch. We walked from our place to her small village. There are roosters, chickens & chicks, burros, pigs and goats wandering the streets. The boys showed us an ocelot they had in a cage. Not sure what they were doing with it. It was definitely wild and not a pet.

lobsters are covered in garlic, butter and fried on the barbque

served with homemade hot sauce and tortillas..yum! yum!

this is a huge one...about 5 pounds

Even the dogs watch the sunset!

Checkers the new puppy at Rusty's Surf Villa

I was offered this puppy...so cute but no.

This puppy was at the fair in La Union

Leif, Arnt's brother from New York met us again for a week. We decided to take a taxi to Zihuatanejo, do the shopping and pick him up at the airport. He was not on the plane, hmmmm that was disconcerting. Once back at the the beach we checked the email and he said he was at the airport in LA and got a call to go back to work. So sad! Two days later Esmeralda came by and said she had something for us...out popped Leif. Turns out it was a positive business event at work and then Kathy, his wife encouraged him to complete his vacation once he had dealt with the work thing. So happy!

hot walk in the coconut grove

Arnt does the cooking and Leif and I assist.

Arnt makes a wicked margarita as well as the food!

Mexican chicken role ups with beans and salsa fresca

Leif serenading us during sunset cocktails

Beach walk everyday

The boys hired a boat for the day to go surfing and fishing.

8 fish...mackeral, sierra and yellow fin

Esmeralda taught an old fisherman new tricks...how to skin the mackeral

Team Saladita!

The following are photos I took either on my daily walk or from our porch. The beach where we are has no facilities other than places to stay and 4 restaurants. The closest town to buy food is about 10 kilometers away and there is a farmers market once a week with great fruit and veg about 20 kilometers away.

net throwing fisherman

How to enjoy a hot day at the beach

The nanny knows how to play

boys and trucks

fish pieces

trigger fish bodies

the sea and metal

colourful

a diver's bike on the beach

cool beach shack

coconuts and grass shacks

Rusty's Surf Villa

pink beach shack

just trotting by

time for extensions and repairs

Esmeralda cut us coconuts

these horses gallop down the beach and stop at different coco groves to graze

the cowboy

left over from xmas...the Virgen lights up

sombrero salesman

keep your hands free

bug carcasses are taken by the ants to the nests in the ceiling

pink broom

brown broom

As I said, there is not much to do at this beach, but here was a couple of events.

Josh and Pedro singing the country blues rock

watching the super bowl at Lourdes Bar with the Mexicans

On one of our trips to the farmers market....

check out the wiring

these are the fishermans' co-op's plastic bins

great mud construction

Arnt was out surfing and saw these three young guys with beards...looking a lot like Canadian tree planters. He asked and they told him they are from Alaska and left Juneau in June in kayaks and arrived in Ladysmith three months later. They jumped on bikes and are heading to Argentina. The beards will be taken off once they get to the end of their trip. We had them over for beers one night and then fed them an Arnt pancake breakfast to send them on their way. Leif had left his fins and we passed them on...they were stoked. Check out www.atripsouth.com to read their stories.

the morning surf before they go

pancake breakfast

this is one of their bikes packed for the road

all sun screened up and ready to go

Esmeralda invited us for an adventure and we ended up at farms and hot springs.

banana farm

papaya farm

very hot spring

we have to go in slowly

fish farm for talapia

farm horse with colt

large hardwood tree

delicate little flowers on water plants

OOPS....a flat tire

to the rescue...the whole family works at the tire shop

So the whole reason we are here is for the surfing......

Says it all!

this is how they spend their time...staring out to sea waiting for the wave

important part of the prep...stare for a long time at the break

lots of board rentals

the break in front of our casa

Steve from Colorado brought 7 blanks to shape

he has set up shop at the treehouse

The waves got small one week, so we made a shrine to the goddess of the waves!

Arnt

Arnt

Emily

Arnt

Zolly

Arnt

Arnt at the end of the day!

At a surf break up the coast there is a sweet little restaurant set up on the beach.

welcome sign

bee nest about 3 foot long

no mistaking the bottle recycle box

my kind of action at the surfspot!

We finally made it to the traditional Mexican town of La Union. They were celebrating an anniversary of some sort. They had a big stage for music, rides, midway and decorations around the town. We were the only gringos in town.

a two tier trampoline?

not sure if you buy these and get them painted or win them

barbeque ready to go

where is it's soil?

the church was celebrating 50 years for their pastor

the valentines beet, carrot, oj drink

fantastic doorways in this town

paper decorations all over the town

Our friend Zolly bought some property and is building a home away from home...he has done a lot of work since last year and planted some awesome palms all around the property.

I will miss Esmeralda as we became quite good friends despite the language barrier

About Me

I have been an artist for over 20 years. As I travel in different countries, including my own, I find I need to create art to continue my experience and memories of those places. My assemblage pieces consist of found objects combined with my photographs and treasures collected during my travels. Once in the studio I take from my myriad of labeled boxes an object that I want to start with and combine it with other objects, text, photographs usually constructed in a found box to tell the story.